The Boys (TV Series) Good for the Soul (2019) User Reviews

Not Anti Christian, it is Anti Mob Mentality.

[aheartofdorkness · 9/10 · 31 July 2019]

Everyone is writing that this episode is anti-Christian. I disagree. Is it pro-Christian? Absolutely not. The writers do use the fact that a lot of people, especially large groups of people, have a tendency to be more susceptible to people who "share" those beliefs. But really, let's be honest that is not just people in the church. It is also with those whose beliefs are political as well. It is the Mob effect. That is what I think this episode is against.

The writers used the setting of a Church Gathering to tell their story.

Not anti Christian.

[andrewlsaenz · 9/10 · 16 August 2021]

Anyone who believes this to be anti Christian is most likely missing the point. Of course there is a slight amount of Christian critique, but it is more about how Christianity can be used for profit. It's good satire about people that misunderstand the point. Ironic, if you believe this is "attacking Christianity" in a way that is so "over the top and hateful," you're the people they're making fun of.

OMG people this a TV Show

[russ-02853 · 8/10 · 10 August 2019]

I'm a Christian and understand that this a TV show. If people could fly and run quicker than a cheetah, I would say that's a miracle. This show takes place in an place where people are, miraculous.

A fantastic look at Superheroes in the real world, with satirical elements

[irishboy141 · 10/10 · 21 August 2019]

This is the best superhero show ever to air on TV/streaming.

It's a beautifully dark show that feels so fresh and current, despite being based on comics from 2006. It deals with themes of corporate greed, mob mentality, war crimes, revenge, superheros having egos and letting the fame get to their heads.

I don't want to spoil too much but one of the most interesting questions running through the series is, "How would an everyday schmuck like you or me get revenge on beings that are essentially Gods?" The answer(s) are super entertaining.

The acting all around is fantastic; Karl Urban (like usual) is amazing and steals the show as Butcher. Jack Quaid is great as Hughie, Antony Starr is legitimately scary as Homelander (he fills every scene with tension and anxiety). Erin Moriarty is so down to earth and real in her portrayal of StarLight. I could go on, just know that everyone from main to supporting is giving it their all.

The effects are incredible for a TV show, and serve the story perfectly because it's all so realistic and plausible.

Jay Bauman of Red Letter Media said something like, "This feels like what Zack Snyder tried to do with Man of Steel, except better." and he's absolutely right. It's an actual realistic portrayal of superheros in real life that has the balls to get really dark as well as absurd and hilarious at times. Watch it immediately.

Fantastic Satire

[christscommando · 10/10 · 8 August 2019]

One of my favorite episodes of the show so far! Full of great writing and acting. Frenchie's relationship with the Female has great progression here and adds a great contrast to the other plot lines of the episode. Just keep in mind to not take this too seriously as the whole show is satire on current events (and hilariously accurate satire at that).

Anti-religious???

[zombies_feast_at_dawn · 18 August 2019]

I see a bunch of reviews on here saying that this episode is an entire religious or anti-christian. It's not if anything it's showing the false idol angle of the superhero genre people are so ready to jump to whatever they think is their side of the story

Billy Butcher and the Laser Baby: great name for a band!

[BA_Harrison · 9/10 · 28 August 2019]

Episode 3 of The Boys features the funniest and most outrageous scene of the series so far: pinned down by machine gun fire, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) clutches a baby with laser eyes and uses it to slice one man in half and decapitate another. They're going to have to go some if they want to top this.

This episode also entertains with its anti-religion plot thread, with swipes at Christian rallies and evangelist leaders. Bitter Billy is a riot once again as he goes into a rant, calling God the 'C' word and generally upsetting self-righteous bible-bashers. It's guaranteed to enrage church-goers, but atheists will have a blast.

My favourite episode so far in a thoroughly entertaining series.

S1.E5 - Entertaining for sure [9/10]

[panagiotis1993 · 9/10 · 20 October 2023]

(S1. E5) My Reaction / Review for The Boys Season 1 Episode 5 ''Good for the Soul'': Episode 4 was good and I gave it a rating of 8.8/10. Let's see if this one is better or worse. A-train killed his girlfriend, he is a murderer and a liar, I hate him. Homelander is so jealous of Madelyn's baby, its like he wishes he was that baby. Homelander is baptizing people? That's so funny to me for some reason. I love what Hughie did to Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a perv just like the seven and he deserves it. I hope that the video of him kissing dudes will be posted online at some point. The Supes are close to finding Frenchie, that's not good. So these heroes are made with compound V? They are all fake? Butcher using the super baby was funny. Homelander has mommy issues and its a bit creepy and funny. Kimiko's power is fast healing? That's cool. While this episode has a bit of an anti christian message I will skip that and rate it based on how entertaining it is. Overall another great episode, my rating is 9/10.

Believe Expo!?

[ZegMaarJus · 8/10 · 11 August 2021]

This episode begins with Popclaw, she moved to Cuba. Popclaw tells A-Train about The Boys. A-Train put two heroine injections into Popclaw her arms, Popclaw died afterwards. Frenchie captured Kimiko, he tries to understand her. Hughie and Starlight go to the Believe Expo. Becca has been missed for 8 years now. A-Train sees Popclaw's sex/murder tape. Ezekiel strangles Hughie. Starlight tells the audience the truth, she is done with it. Billy and MM get into a gunfight. Billy killed the gunmans with help from a baby. Kimiko fights with Black Noir. Kimiko is heavily wounded, but she heals quickly. Nice Episode of The Boys Season 1, i miss the real action but still a good episode!

Brilliant episode. Best one so far.

[arshadn · 10/10 · 4 October 2019]

Pure. Honest. Funny. Factful. Wonderfully acted. Just brilliant. This is the kind of politics that many shows should be focusing on if they want to put politics in entertainment... It also shows so many aspects of the different characters... Not a single dull moment in the entire episode.

Slow paced and too much drama

[shwetafabm · 7/10 · 20 August 2020]

I know this is a drama so this is perhaps my bias, i just don't like it too much, i liked A-Train's part, had some hilarious scenes by Homelander and Hughie. The whole coming to your own acceptance felt a tad out of a teenage movie. The female and Frenchie storyline was good. And we see a reveal about supers.

It was still good despite some of the Christian-bashing

[iamgurt · 8/10 · 31 July 2019]

This is my first review I've written, and I felt compelled to share my take on this episode.

First off, as a Christian, it takes a lot for me to get angry over the way media represents Christianity. However, a lot of the episode that was on Christianity felt more like it was bashing/ making fun of corporate Christianity- where people who don't believe in Christian beliefs or aren't living a Christian take advantage of Christians and manipulate them for their own gain. The character of Ezekiel feels like a televangelist trying to profit off the masses. Starlight's speech toward the end does have more overt tones of anti-Christianity, but if the writers don't believe it, they can speak their piece on what they believe I guess. It felt more like someone going through a crisis of faith and her lashing out more than anything anyway.

The other plot points were more interesting than the main one. A-Train's investigation simultaneously humanizes him and makes him more irredeemable, which is something I've grown an appreciation for in this show with all of the Seven. Frechie is slowly becoming one of my favorite characters as he tries to connect to the Female and his plot line starts to wrap up with A-Train's. Homelander's little rivalry with the baby is pretty humorous, and his acting like a repressed child while Stillwall tries to control him was great as well.

The action scenes at the end were pretty great, although a bit short. The pacing slowed quite too.

Overall, a slower but still necessary episode with a little too much unnecessary anti-religious sentiments to where it could be distracting. Weaker episode, but still a good one. 8/10

Good themes but slow direction.

[cruise01 · 7/10 · 18 September 2019]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

The episode follows Starlight giving a speech during a religious convention. Shows some themes and highlights about relatable concepts with people paying a lot to seek answers. And the judgment people give. It is a slow direction. Homelander is upset over their own boss cause she doesnt pay enough attention to him. Hughie speaks out his feelings towards Starlight. The ending gets a little action with the bad guys getting to Butcher. And Frenchie.

been there, seen that

[troorl · 4/10 · 23 August 2019]

Mandatory anti-Christian straw man. I guess you can't produce a show without it these days.

Standout Episode For A First Time Watcher

[andyrew-48841 · 10/10 · 24 December 2021]

The Boys isn't a particularly subtle show, and this is never more apparent than when we see the living embodiment of America preparing to suckle at the teat of his corporate mommy. But with some uniquely uncomfortable writing and editing, they turned a premise that would make a political cartoonist scoff into a twisted work of art. This is The Boys at its best.

It is a show that says a lot while simultaneously not taking itself too seriously. Immediately after providing the audience with information that will surely have a long lasting impact on the story, we're given a hilarious sequence involving a super-powered infant being used to eviscerate several armed guards.

We also get to see Annie's disillusionment with the super hero life begins to bubble to the surface as she struggles to handle the blatant hypocrisy in both the organization she is now a part of as well as the community she was brought up in.

It often feels like the show is beating the viewer over the head with its cynicism, yet it's done in such a loving, caring way that one can't help but keep coming back for more.

Christians make Christians look bad.

[dwuudz-35775 · 6 October 2020]

Spending time whining about a TV show that you don't like because it makes you uncomfortable is pathetic.

I don't go around watching Christian movies and TV complaining about them being too "christiany". Seriously. If you don't like it, just watch something else! This show has NEVER marketed itself as a "Christian show".

All the pharisees are crying

[fudbot-15190 · 9/10 · 7 September 2020]

This episode id good at showing who the right wing pharisees are...pure genius

Interesting building episode

[jacobstevenmillen · 9/10 · 15 August 2020]

Lots of interesting things in this episode, and lots of conflict in most of the stories. Also the plot with Frenchie and the girl they freed finally got intriguing in this episode. I'll admit, Stralight's speech was a little heavy-handed, but pretty much everything she said rang true, at least I think so, and so I didn't really have any issues with it. Adding to that, it's interesting comparing the idolization of superheros to religion because there are a lot of parallels there. They did sort of portray Christians as stupid close-minded people in the story though, which isn't very sensitive to that group and I could see that part being offensive. But all in all, I wasn't bothered by any of it, and I thought the episode was quite interesting. Also the music in the final scene was great, love that song.

The Elephant in the Room

[thevauntedq · 8/10 · 13 March 2022]

Homelander was so inept that Madelyn Stillwell literally has to play wet-nurse-maid to him. It had some very strong GOT vibes with regard to Lysa & Robyn Arryn of the Vale. Is this 150 characters yet? How off this all is. Submit. Submit. Damn edible. Surely this has to be 150 characters. Oh you have to click out then back in, alright baby now you make mama look stooPid!

More satirical than ever

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 7 April 2022]

The show is more satirical than ever at this point and I really appreciated it. I loved the Christian festival and the characterisation works a treat here, allowing us to start to like a couple of the main players. Constantly interesting.

"it must be hard being so alone"

[thomasgouldsbrough · 9/10 · 2 August 2022]

A great exploration into the theme of loneliness. Starlight's story continues to be very interesting, especially the scene where her mother states that it's all about her, and that Starlight is letting her down. The Christianity theme was also pretty funny to watch, as it wasn't the anti-christianity message wasn't too forced, and so as a result it was genuinely quite funny to witness. One of the best scenes was probably the suggestion that "you should believe, because I said so!". Another interesting aspect of this episode was the idea that Butcher is becoming very morally questionable, to the point where it's hard to see if his actions are right.

Weakest episode.

[LegendaryFang56 · 7/10 · 3 August 2021]

I find this to be the weakest episode so far. Of course, it had its moments. Like the Supe baby being wielded by Billy to kill those people with its laser eyes. The scene with The Deep eating in misery and then what he said once Annie revealed what happened live. I like how he's now the comic relief of the show, pretty much. The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man of The Boys.

Slowest episode so far.

[zipzki · 4/10 · 28 July 2020]

Too many "agenda" driven scenes - slowed the story down. I fast-forwarded through parts, for the first time with this series. The "secret" lesbian trope had me yawning. I'm not against the concept, just how it was (poorly)done. The silly Christian festival was tedious. What really bothered me, was the Starlighter arc, which felt forced and preachy, in its own right. Homelander's going rogue speech had me fast-forwarding, too. Overall, it felt like the writers were proselytizing their beliefs through underdeveloped or unnecessary plot points. Give me more killer baby carnage, please! I'm tired of agendas putrifying good storytelling. It's like hiding brussel sprouts in an eclair.

Weakest episode to date

[margar1 · 2/10 · 6 January 2020]

Slow. Predictable. This show shines best when the focus is on the team. When it spends too much time on the villainous heroes, who are 2 dimensional boring figures, it bogs down in self-congratulatory virtue signaling. It would be more interesting if the bad guys were not comically degenerate hypocrites and if it didn't flatter its audience by inviting cheap contrasts. Episodes 2-5 avoided this by delivering a fun portrayal of the protagonists who carry the show much better than the cardboard villains.

Of course Hollywood wants to lecture Christians

[bri-guy2033 · 1/10 · 12 September 2019]

So far I like his show, haven't finished it yet, but I plan on it. I just didn't appreciate the lecture the writers deliver through Starlight and Hughie telling Christians how to think and behave. Boiling down Christianity to a couple of verses, and saying how silly it is, is the exact same thing I'd expect someone who hasn't stepped foot into a church in over a decade to do, and of course this episode validated my belief. Maybe instead of clumping all Christians as a hypocritical, intolerant group, you demonstrate some of that understanding and tolerance towards them? I'm just saying, there's a lot of people who think Christianity is the problem, and Christianity needs to be more accepting. Well how about accepting Christianity and show a little more understanding to them? This episode really felt like a completely different show, and not much happened to progress the story imo.